Manufacture of metallic bellows



May 3l, 1927. l1,630,622

J. M. LIEA MANUFACTUHE 0F METALLIC BELLOWS Filed Nov. 19, 1925 Eg 5 4Z 44' v v /5 /7 I gnvmnoz Patented May 31, 1927.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. LEA, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

HANUFAcirURE or METALLIC ."Brznnows.

appunti@ med November 1s, 1925. serial m. 70,115.

The invention relates 'to the making ot metallic articles built up from a plurality ot' sections and, while in some respects of more general application, is of especial utility in lf connection with, and will be herein described I as applied to, the making of resilient bellows formed from a pluralityof sections of sheet` 'metal and adapted for use in pumps, thermostats and other mechanisms in which D an expansible metallic chamber is required. ,The rincipal object of the invention is to provlde improved means for the manufacture of articles of the character mentioned by assembly of suitably formed metal sections, and, while retaining the sections in assembled relation, applying solder, or the like, to join the sections and produce a unitary structure.

ther objects and advantagesv will appear 3 from the following description taken in connctipn with the accompanying drawings, in w. 1c

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a structure adapt-` ed for use 1n applying solder to a set of 5 metal sections,

- Fig. 2 is'an end elevation of the same,

Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, a side elevation, partly in section, and an end elevation of a clamp adapted to hold a se't of secl tions in assembled relation while beingv soldered,

Fig. 5 is a view on an enlarged scale showing a set of sections properly positioned 'relatively to the solder-applying devices prelim- I inary to the operation of soldering, and

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are plan'views, respectively, of an end plate and two forms of intermediate plates employed in the construction of the bellows.

Referring to the drawings, the structure with which the invention is concernedis' shown as a metallic bello-ws comprising an end plate 10, intermediate plates or rings 11, 12, and a base plate 13. The end plate may be provided with a central opening 14 adapted for the attachment of an actuating or supporting device and is formed with a' downwardly extending peripheral flange 15. The intermediate plate or .ring 11 is provided at its outer edge with an upwardly eX- tending ange 16 and at its inner edge with a downwardly extending flange 17. The

inner edge of the ring 12 is also upwardly hanged, as at 18, and the outer edge downwardly anged, as at 19. The base plate 13r is centrallyA apertured with an upwardly extending flange 29 around the aperture and may have one or more annular stiffening and locating ribs 20. The diameter of the central aperture in the plate 13 is the same as that of the aperture through one ofthe rings 12 and is slightly greater than the diameter of the aperture through one of the rings 11. The diameter of plate and of ring 12 is sli htly less than that of ning 11.. These di erences are made just suiiicient to enable flange 15 or iiange 19 to seat and fit closely within iange 16 andilange 17 to seat over fiange 18 or 20. Thus, as will be clear from Fig. 3, the plates and rings, which may be stamped or otherwise formed from sheet metal possessing the desired resilience, may

be assembled to constitute a bellows member having any required number of folds orl convolutions. It is only necessary then to secure together, as by soldering, the respective pairs of nested flanges to produce a bellows member having a high degree of iexibility and the walls of which are of sheet metal of substantially uniform thickness.

' After having selected and stacked together the plates and rings necessary to form a bellows member of the desired number of folds the assembly is then mounted in a clamp adapted to retain the elements in proper position during the soldering operation. A clamp suitable for this iurpose, illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, comprises a base or body portion and two arms 26, 27. The body portion is provided with a bore 28 to permit the clamp to be mounted on a soldering apparatus hereinafter described. The arm 27 is centrally apertured at 29 and within the aperture is rotatably mounted a sleeve 30` adapted to support ,upon its inner face the base 13 of a set of elements for a bellows member. The sleeve 30 may be retained in the aperture 29 -in any suitable manner, as' by a fiange 31 turned over the outer face of arm 27. An antifriction bearing is prefer ably provided between the sleeve 30 and the arm 27, as by means of balls 32 mounted between the opposed faces of the sleeve and the arm. The central bore 33 of the sleeve is of 'nsl i suicient diameter to permit the introduc- Ithe inner limit of its movement, which limit may be determined by a collar 37 adjustably mounted upon the plunger and adapted to engage the outer face of the arm 26. At its inner end the plunger is provided with means, as teeth 38, for engagement with the top or end plate of a set of bellows elements, and a central finger 39 is preferably provided to fit the aperture 14 and thereby assist in centering the set of elements.

In practice.l the set of assembled sections or elements to constitute a bellows member is placed upon the sleeve 30, being centered relatively thereto in anysuitable manner, as by the provision of the concentric ridge 30 on the face of the sleeve over which the rib 20 may seat, then the plunger 35 is pushed inwardly to engage the end plate 10. The

space between the sleeve and plunger will be so adjusted that the bellows assembly will be subjected to a slight pressure so as to retain the sections firmly in engagement and `gauge the length of the bellows.

The apparatus for applying solder to the joints of the bellows assembly comprise a base or frame 40 upon which are rotatably mounted two soldering tools or rollers 41, 42. The roller 41, as shown on an enlarged scale in F ig. 5, is provided at its extremity with a plurality of circumferential grooves 43 spaced apart the same distance as the inner joints of the bellows assembly when supported in the clamp above described. These grooves are curved in cross section, as shown, to the extent necessary to fit over the flanges 17, 18, or 17, 19, in the bellows assembly when moved into engagement therewith so as to apply solder thereto and at the saine time exert a slight pressure tending to force the flanges together axially.

The tool 42, as shown in detail in Fig. 5, is constituted of a pluralityl of separate rollers 44 corresponding in number to the number of outer joints in the bellows assem- Y portion 44 of the groove 44 is deeper than the remaining portion of the groove to provide a seat for flange 16. By reason of this 48 mounted to slide in standards 49, 50. The

bars are connected at their rear ends by a cross piece 51 against which acts a lever 52 adapted to be actuated by a treadle 53 or other suitable means to move the roller too! 42 toward the roller 41. Springs 54 serve to move the tool 42 in the other direction, the extent of movement under the influence of the lever .being determined by the adjustable stop 55, on cross bar 51, engageable with standard 50, and the return movement being limited by stop 56 on the bars 48, engage able with standard 49.

The roller 41 is formed integrally with a shaft 60 of sufficient size and of suitable material to conduct the necessary heat to the soldering roll. The shaft is suitably supported for rotation and, if desired, for re'- ciprocation, as in bearings 61, and may be rotated by any desired means, as by crank 62. Heat radiating or insulating means 63 may be arranged to retard communication of heat to the crank. Heat may be supplied to the tool 42 and the shaft 60, respectively, by burners 64,65, supplied with gas from pipe 66. i

To provide for the support of the bellows assembly in proper relation to the soldering tools just described, a rod is mounted yin a horizontal position upon a standard 71. This standard also supports a second rod 72 slightly oiset vertically from the rod 7 0 but parallel thereto. The rod 70 is of a size to fit slidably within the bore 28 of the bellows clamp, while the rod 72 serves as a guide 'for properly positioning the clamp relatively to the roller 41.

In operation, the clamp with a bellows assembly positioned thereon, a suitable soldering tlux havin been applied'to the bellows elements, is p aced upon the rod 70 and brought against the guide 72 by swinging the clamp about the axis of rod 70. If de sred, the soldering roll 41 may, at this time, be in a retracted position if the supporting shaft is slidably mounted to permit the with drawal of the tool from the soldering position. However, this is unnecessary if the clamp be properly held against guide 72. An adjustable stop 71 may be provided to limit the endwise movement of the clamp. After the bellows clamp has been properly located and the roller 41 is positioned in the interior of the bellows assembly as shown in Fig. 5, solder having been applied. of course, tothe roller ,before entering it into the bellows, and also to the tool 42, the treadle 53 may be operated to move the tool Bti 42 toward the roller 41.) This movement first brings the rollers 44 into engagement with the outer joints of the bellows, and, as thek movement continues, lswings the soldering clamp about the rod -70 and thus brings the inner joints into engage-ment withv the grooves of roller 41, the adjustment of the parts being such that a slight pressure will be exerted-upon the joints by their engagement with the several grooves. The roller 41 is now rotated a few revolutions. This movement is communicated to the bellows assembly by reason 'of the frictional engagement of the latter with 'the roller, and rotation is likewise imparted to the roller 44, the. loose mounting of the latter permitting them to accommodate themselves to any slight irregularit of the bellows sections.

rlihe joints will tius be lightly pressed to-v gether while solder is being applied by the roller tools and the joining of both the interior and exterior joints will be very quickly accomplished. Furthermore, the solder will be very Auniformly and completely applied to the entire periphery of each joint, since every oint is brought once, or several times if esired, into contact with the soldering irons thereby attaining an even and'proper teml perature. The contact also extends to both members uniformly on both sides of the joint, without which a satisfactory soldering cannot be eHected.

From inspection of Fig. 5 it will be noted that the outer iianges 16 on the external joints of the bellows are directed upwardly oraway from the base 13, while the innermost flanges 17 on the internal joints are L directed downwardly or away `from the top 10. As a result oi this arrangement the external joints are exposed to view from the upper side and theinternal joints from the lower side through the opening in the baseV plate, thus facilitating inspection.

The roller 41 is formed 1n a single body integral with its supporting shaft since it is necessary to heat the internal .soldering tooll by conduction from the heated shaft 60. The external tool 42, on the other hand, may be heated directly, as by burner 64, and therefore. may be made in sections nonrigidly connected, thus enabling it to accommodate itself in position and rate of ro- 'tation'to the jointswith which it contacts.

While I have herein described a specific embodiment of the invention in both method and apparatus it will be understood that 'various changes in details may be made by one skilled in the art .without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and therefore I do not wish to be restricted to the specific features herein set forth except as required by the language of the appended claims in view of the prior art. I claim:

1. The process of forming a bellows coinprising assembling a plurality of sheet metal sections -so fitted to ether as to present ininner and outer 'peripheries, assembling such, rings with the 'iianges of one ring in engagement with corresponding flanges vof adjacent rings, and applying solder simultaneously to the inner and outer mating flanges.

3. The process of making a metallic bellows member comprising assembling a plurality of sheet metal sections so fitted together as to present internal and external annular peripheral joints, positioning said assembly between two roller solderin tools, and rotating one of saidl tools, there y impartingrotation to the assembly andthe other tool. A f i 4. Soldering apparatus comprising means for supporting a work-piece having inner and outer joints, a soldering roller adapted to be positioned within said work-piece 1n engagement with vsaid inner joints, a second soldering roller adapted to be positioned in engagement with said outer joints, and means for causing relative rotation of each of said rollers and said work-piece whereby said rollers are caused to travel over said inner and outer joints respectively.

5. The process of forming a bellows member comprising the provision of annular sheet metal plates having anges upon their inner and outer peripheries, assembling said plates with the lianges of one' plate inengagement respectively with corre onding flanges of adjacent plates thereby orining internal and external joints, supporting suchY assembly between soldering tools engaging respectively lsaid internal and external joints and causing relative rotation between said assembly and the solder-applying tool). f

6. Means for applying solder to theV inner andouter joints of a hollow sectional metallic member comprising a soldering tool 1nsertable within said member, a second soldering-tool engageable with the exteriorof said member, means for causing relative movement between said `member and said tools whereby to apply solder simultaneously to the interior and exterior of the member and removable clamping means adapted to hold the sections in assembledA tool insertable wthinsaid member, a second rotary soldering tool engageable with the exterior of said member, means for causing relative movement between' said member and said tools whereby to apply solder simultaneously to the interior and exterior of the member and a removable clam adapted to support the sectional mem er in proper posltion relative to'the said tools and to permit rotation of said 1 member.

. In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

JOHN M. LEA. 

